Nicole & Ken's 2012 in pictures...

January

 I had a girls weekend in San Francisco.

(dinner & dancing)

&

 We flew to Las Vegas for the weekend to see 

Garth Brooks in concert at Wynn.

February 

We went to Tahoe to celebrate Kelly's birthday.

My Family from Kansas flew in to visit.

(Cousin day in San Francisco & lunch in Sausalito).

&

We had a family bachelorette party for 

Natalie's upcoming wedding.

March

We stayed around town and

played craps on Ken's table.

We took the boys to play at the park.

I spent time with my sister.

Spent many nights with them.

&

 We celebrated Ken's birthday at Vic Stewart.

He turned 24.

April

We bought our first house!!

...and spent the next 2 months fixing it up

Changing locks the first day we had it.

Making lots of trips to the "dumps".

Taping off the windows and doors to paint.

Then we painted the outside.

Tore down old fences that needed to go.

&

 I still managed to plant my garden that month!

May

The work continued on the house.

Fences were built around the property.

(workers: Shawn, Dad & Ken)

We put in a lawn.

We installed new granite counter tops throughout.

Extended the patio on the side yard.

Painted the inside of the house.

&

Then relaxed at the end of each work day.

June

Our house was almost complete with all the improvements we wanted to make...

just a few last minute touches & Home Depot trips, of course.

Added new awnings.

Painted the steps & railings.

Painted the porch and railings.

Power washed the railing on the back deck.

Then we were done!

Once that was finished...

We went to Muir Beach in San Francisco 

(with Nat, Shawn & the boys)

We got to go white water rafting one weekend.

PADDLE!

&

Went enjoyed a long weekend camping trip at

Salt Springs Reservoir with friends.

We shot guns.

I learned, Ken taught.

Practiced trap shooting.

(with Ken's help again).

Lounged around.

Played games.

Spent time together.

 

And the boys carved things out of logs.

July

We watched Danville's 4th of July parade from a rooftop.

Ate lunch at The Crown.

Went to a friends house to swim and BBQ.

Then, one evening my Aunt Susan came to visit us.

We went to Bridges for dinner and spent time together.

My Mom's sister Caryn and my cousins Laura & Lynne came to visit later that month.

We went to Carmel for a girls day.

We made another a quick trip to Tahoe with friends.

August

We went on a camping trip to Bullards Bar Reservoir.

We spent one of the days on the water.

Of course we went tubing.

We went to Danville's Art & Wine stroll.

..and rode the trolly from the livery to downtown.

Just for fun.

&

We saw Toby Keith in concert.

September

My Mom, sister and I went to Napa for a

Mom/daughter bachelorette party for Nat.

Then, I was the Maid of Honor at my sister's wedding.

I helped her get ready.

She walked down the aisle.

Then she said 'I do' and married Shawn.

Our family.

YAY!

October

We rented a gorgeous cabin in Tahoe.

We stayed with my Mom's sister and her family.

We spent one day at the lake.

The boys played cornhole.

And the girls sat in the sand and talked.

Then our whole group drove to my Aunt Susan's house in Nevada City.

We ate a delicious dinner.

Watched the sunset.

&

Celebrated my cousin Katie's wedding with a mini-shower

that Susan threw for her.

Then we were off to Kauai.

Aloha!

We lounged by the pool.

Swam in the pool.

And waterfall ;)

Went to different beaches.

Did a sunset cruise around the island.

Spent a day zip lining.

Ate lots of shave ice.

Went to fun dinners.

Attended our first Luau.

Got henna.

And had one of our greatest vacations. Ever.

November

Went into San Francisco for the night

and saw a comedy show at Cobb's.

We were lucky enough to meet Adam Carolla after the show.

We ran the Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving morning.

The morning after Thanksgiving, we flew to Kansas

to see my cousin Katie get married.

All the engaged / married cousins at her wedding.

I got to catch up with all my cousins who live in Kansas.

December

We had our first ski day at Heavenly for the season.

One weekend we went with our friend Kelly and her BF Kyle

on a trolly car all through SF.

Dressed in funny clothes.

Then, back to Tahoe for more ski weekends.

Sometimes with friends.

Sometimes just us.

We celebrated my birthday at Benihana.

I turned 25.

We spent Christmas at home.

In matching PJs.

&

Celebrated the end of 2012 in Tahoe with friends.